Melissa Mahon Stein regularly sell her produce at farmers markets around southwest Wisconsin. But the owner of BearStone Acres in Soldiers Grove believes her involvement is about more than moving food from the farm to the customer. It’s also about building a stronger community.
Mahon Stein and fellow members of the Vernon-Crawford chapter of Wisconsin Farmers Union worked together to help launch a Double Dollars pilot program at the Viroqua Farmers Market. The program matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending at the market — dollar for dollar. This means a shopper planning to spend $20 in SNAP benefits could receive another $20 to spend on eligible products from local farmers.
The program is also creating additional opportunities to connect with customers while selling more locally grown food. Mahon Stein says the benefits reach beyond individual farms.
“We’re not only providing more dollars for people to use, but we’re keeping more dollars local,” she explained. “Spending SNAP benefits at a local farmers market helps circulate money within the rural community instead of sending it outside the area. And in our rural spaces there’s so much struggle to keep communities together and have them be strong and supported and keep people farming and pushing back against consolidation.”
This pilot is already considered highly successful after less than a year. The Vernon-Crawford Wisconsin Farmers Union chapter is now raising money to keep the program going.
For farmers like Mahon Stein, the Double Dollars program is one more way to strengthen the connections between local food, local farms, and their local communities.
You can watch a video featuring Mahon Stein and the Double Dollars program here:
Leave a Reply